Altvater: Ryder Cup teams are now complete

European Team Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley and U.S. Team Captain Tom Watson recently made their final three picks to complete their 12-man rosters.

Fred Altvater

McGinley’s European Team will enter the Ryder Cup at the end of September as a heavy favorite having won seven of the last nine matches.

His final picks included Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and a new name, Stephen Gallacher.

Gallacher, from Scotland, won consecutive Omega Dubai Desert Classics in 2013-14 and has had a very good season on the European Tour. Top-10 finishes at the last two European Tour events, the Czech Masters and the Italian Open, cemented Gallacher’s choice as a captain’s pick.

McGinley chose Gallacher over a Luke Donald, who has been a Ryder Cup stalwart on past European Ryder Cup teams.

There was no drama in his other two picks.

Although Westwood has not had a successful year on the PGA Tour, he has been a member of eight previous European teams.

No one could image a Ryder Cup without Ian Poulter, who seems to don his cape and become Superman every two years when the Ryder Cup is contested.

With four of the top five ranked players in the world — Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose — on the team, plus the fact that the matches will be held at Gleneagles in Scotland, the Europeans seem to have an insurmountable advantage in this year’s competition.

Watson’s U.S. team had six contenders for his final three spots. Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Moore, Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan, Webb Simpson and Chris Kirk all missed earning sufficient point to qualify for the team.

Mahan won The Barclays and Kirk won the Deutsche Bank Championship to make a strong case for their inclusion on the team.

In the end, Watson chose experience by picking Bradley, Simpson and Mahan.

Bradley performed well as a partner for Phil Mickelson at Medinah in 2012. Simpson is best friends with Bubba Watson and makes a comfortable partner for the two-time Masters Champion.

Mahan earned his spot by winning the first FedEx Cup playoff tournament and can partner well with several others from the American team.

Perhaps the bigger story is who is not available to be on Team USA. Tiger Woods, Jason Dufner and Dustin Johnson will all stay home and watch from the comfort of their couches. Their absence leaves a big hole for Captain Watson at Gleneagles.

For the first time, the Americans enter the Ryder Cup as the clear underdog.

Watson won five Open Championships and was the captain when the U.S. Team last won the Ryder Cup in Europe at the Belfry in 1993.

It will be interesting to see if the Americans will rally around their captain and bring home Samuel Ryder’s cup Sept. 28.

Fred Altvater offers golf tips and videos at www.toledoohiogolflessons.com. Email him at BackNine@toledofree press.com or follow him on Twitter @tolohgolfr.

Altvater: Woods & McIlroy: A tale of two seasons

Rory McIlroy began 2013 as the No. 1-ranked player in the world, but Tiger Woods won five tournaments and finished the year as world No. 1.

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While Woods moved up the world golf rankings, McIlroy struggled and finished the year at No. 6.

Woods and McIlroy both made their 2013 season debuts in Abu Dhabi in January. Both were paid big appearance fees and both missed the cut.

McIlroy’s mega-endorsement deal with Nike was announced to the world amid a huge media event, including laser light show, smoke and rock music in Abu Dhabi. It was to be the crowning of the new prince of golf, the heir apparent to Tiger Woods.

It turned out to be the highlight of the year for McIlroy.

Young Rory had completely dominated the golf world in 2012. He won four titles, including his second career major championship, the PGA Championship. He finished inside the top-10 in 10 of his 16 PGA Tour starts and earned more than $8 million.

In 2012, he became only the second player to win the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours in the same season.

At 23 years old, with a $200 million endorsement deal in his pocket and a world-class professional tennis player on his arm, he was on top of the world.

Things did not go according plan in 2013, however.

After the missed cut in Abu Dhabi, he got bumped in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play by his good friend and the 64th seed, Shane Lowry.

The very next week he was the defending champion at the Honda Classic, but McIlroy had suddenly lost his game as well as his peace of mind. Near the end of the second round on Friday, when it looked like he was going to post a score higher than 80, he walked off the course and withdrew, citing a sore tooth.

Thus far Nike was not receiving a very good return on its huge investment.

McIlroy struggled with the new equipment early in 2013. He played a light schedule in January and February and it appeared he would need more reps to get comfortable with the new sticks.

Woods was also struggling, experiencing his first of four rules violation mishaps this year in Abu Dhabi. Additional penalty strokes posted to his score after his round on Friday caused him to miss the cut.

He bounced back nicely, however with a win in the Farmers Insurance Open at one of his favorite courses, Torrey Pines.

He also got bounced early in the WGC-Accenture Match Play and finished T-37 at the Honda Classic.

His season changed in early March. He won the WGC-Cadillac at Doral and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In his next start he finished T-4 in the Masters at Augusta and then won the Players Championship.

Four wins and five top-10 finishes in just seven starts on the PGA Tour moved him back to No. 1 on the Official World Golf Rankings and to the top of the PGA Tour money list.

Tiger made a huge statement to the golf world and to young Mr. McIlroy. He was back.

McIlroy did post a T-8 finish at Doral, but finished T-45 at the Shell Houston Open. Houston was to be his last tournament before the Masters, but his caddy suggested he get some more practice by adding the Valero Texas Open to his schedule.

Texas turned out to be a good idea. McIlroy picked up $660,000 in his best finish of the year with a runner-up place. Four rounds of 72-67-71-66 got him to 12-under par and ready for Augusta.

A third-round 79 ended McIlroy’s chances in the Masters and he eventually finished T-25.

A T-10 at the Wells Fargo and T-8 at the Players ensued before the wheels completely came off the train.

He would not post a top 25 in his next four events on the PGA Tour. In addition, he would miss cuts in the BMW Championship and the Irish Open on the European Tour. He even missed the cut at Muirfield in the Open Championship.

McIlroy did finish T-8 as the defending champion in the PGA Championship, but his struggles continued in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He finished outside the top 30 and did not earn a spot in the Tour Championship.

After his win at the Players, Woods finished T-65 in the Memorial, T-32 in the U.S. Open, T-6 in the Open Championship and won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

In spite of back spasms, he managed a runner-up finish to Adam Scott at The Barclays. Battling a tender back and a sore wrist throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs, he finished the year with more than $8.5 million in earnings.

Although Woods failed to win a major again this season he won five PGA Tour titles and the tour money title. He was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year for the 11th time and won his ninth Vardon Trophy.

After the PGA Tour season ended, McIlroy finally got his first win of the year at the Korean Open and then bested Woods in an exhibition in China.

Playing in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai Finals, he finished T-27 in the BMW Masters, T-6 in the WGC-HSBC Champions and T-5 in the DP World Tour Championship.

McIlroy seems to have gotten over the hump. Hopefully his management and legal problems are behind him and he can concentrate on his golf in 2014.

He finished the year at No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings and is on an upswing heading into next season.

Tiger proved to the world he is back and ready to resume winning major tournaments.

With Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Justin Rose playing their best, McIlroy and Woods have tough competition heading into 2014.